Chapter 007: Ruined Celebrations
Ruined Celebrations (台無しお祝い, Dainashi Oiwai) is the first chapter of the Sponsored Arc, the second arc in the Roads to Regional Saga. After defeating Bull in Whorl, Lowen has now earned enough points to enter the Regional League, and is one step closer to becoming the next GIFL Champion. But there are still many obstacles in his path and new one is just around the corner. Part 1. Time to Celebrate Shortly after their match, Bull and his group were arrested by authorities in connection to several thefts around Whorl and neighboring islands. Apparently, with the registration of the match between the two fighters he inadvertently exposed himself to the Order of Nine who were seeking Bull for previous crimes. Lowen watched as the military unit came into the arena, silencing the crowd's cheers. Dressed in white and bearing the symbol of the Order on their armbands, they pulled Bull from the water and surrounded him, swords at the ready. This was the first time Lowen had seen the Order in action and not just on TV. The Order was created to police Gear Users and arrest them if they abused their powers or were threats to normal citizens. The last person to enter was Marshal Sparrow and Lowen could barely contain himself. Wearing his signature blue armor and white cape clipped to the collar, Sparrow was the Marshal of the Julian Region, as well Lowen's favorite Marshal. It was part admiration for the Marshal's skill and power, but also because he was from Julian and you always root for your home team. Lowen didn't get to speak to Sparrow directly but as they were hauling the handcuffed Bull away Sparrow glanced at him and nodded, a sign of recognition that made Lowen's heart quicken and smile like a fan girl. Aeben joked later that he though he could see stars twinkling in Lowen's eyes when Sparrow walked past him. Something that Lowen vehemently denied so that he could maintain his "cool guy" persona. A few days later, Whorl held a small celebration for Lowen, congratulating him for his win and wishing him luck in the Regional League. There was music and people dancing. One elderly lady grabbed Lowen by the wrist and tried to pull him onto the dance floor. Lowen politely declined but his uncle immediately pushed him into her and she took it as accepting the invitation. He awkwardly moved with her as others circled around him, clapping and dancing. The show ended with a fireworks show that filled the night sky, Aeben sitting on Lowen's shoulders, Lowen sitting on Rubin's shoulders. Their uncle cheering with his big arms stretched out, one of the few times Lowen has seen him act this way. On his uncle's shoulders, staring up the fireworks illuminating the night sky, Lowen felt like he was on cloud nine. His eyes twinkled and his smile wide. He felt a rush of confidence, like he could take on anyone. He imagined himself holding up that golden GIFL Championship belt, high above him. The sun hitting the metal at just the right angle, splitting it into beams. His image transmitted throughout all of BattleScar. He could see it all. This win put him into the regionals. It was only a matter of time before he would make it into The Circuit. The show ended with one final display of fireworks. Large multicolored blasts of light showering down over Whorl. Aeben cheered and clapped on his brother's shoulders. Lowen clapped with him. 'Try not to get ahead of yourself, Lowen.' He thought to himself. 'You still have Aeben to look out for.' But Lowen reassured himself that everything was going to be alright. In the Regionals, you can get sponsors. Companies, groups, private investors, whomever had the money to pay for your entry fees, as well as supply you with new equipment or whatever else you needed to further your skills. Sponsors were like personal piggybanks. The more you win, the more money you get. 'Once I start, I'll need to get me a sponsor.' That meant another round of matches where potential sponsors would evaluate your skills against other Regional fighters, and then would bid on best. If a sponsor presented you a contract, you were pretty much on easy streak in terms of credits. Rob Heartz was sponsored by Platinum Fitness, a popular personal training gym franchise with multiple locations in the region. It had afforded the Heartz family a good living, but when he lost his against Othniel Gold he also lost his sponsor and the credits that came with it. The start of Regionals is in a month. That means Lowen needs to get himself ready to put on a good show if he hopes to get a sponsor that can fork over the kind of credits needed for Aeben's treatments. A lot to do in that time, but for now, Lowen wanted to focus on this small victory and enjoy himself. Part 2. To Train or Not To Train The next morning Lowen felt surprisingly stiff, especially his right arm. From the shoulder down the tips of his fingers was a dull ache. He curled his fingers into a fist, hearing them crack. Aeben stayed home today, focusing on school work, while their next door neighbor looked after him. Lowen needed to focus today on training, getting himself ready for the qualifiers. He traveled to Julian, as he did every morning. Occasionally he would rub his right shoulder, wincing when he hit a spot that was tender. That pain carried all the way to Heartz Gym. Diandra was sitting behind the reception area as usual. Her big brown eyes beamed when she saw Lowen walk through the door. "Oh, Lowen, congratulations!" She exclaimed. "Your uncle told us that you made it into the Regionals. That's so exciting! What are you going to do now? I hear that league is really tough for fighters. You must be here to train, right? Are you hoping to get into The Circuit next? Man, those fighters are even stronger than the regional ones. Have you seen the new arena at Paramount? It's like a small city, its so big." Diandra had a habit of talking really fast, getting caught up in her own excitement she would begin rambling, seemingly to no end if you didn't stop her. Lowen simply through his hands up, "Easy, Diandra. One step at a time." He said with a smile. "I'm just here to train today, is all." "Oh, sorry. I always talk a lot when I get excited. I mean, I'm excited for you. It's exciting news, right? You are excited, aren't you?" "Diandra." Lowen interrupted. "Right, sorry again. Have a good work out, Lowen." She replied, trying to hard to leave it at that. Lowen walked to the locker rooms and received numerous pats on the back and fist bumps on the way, somewhat inflating Lowen's ego. He enjoyed the praise of others, the occasional spotlight. It felt good to be recognized and admired like that. No harm in that, right? He placed his bag in his locker and headed out to the floor. Standing at the center of large training area, floors completely padded by blue foam mats. Lowen began his normal stretching routine. First with his neck, turning his head several times in one direction and then the same number the other way. Next were his shoulders, rotating them clockwise, then counterclockwise. That dull pain still present in his right shoulder. He finished going all the way down his body, loosening himself up. Around the training area were full length mirrors lining the walls where fighters would use to watch their own movements, shadow themselves as they punched and kicked. Lowen did the same, throwing a few quick jabs, moving his feet, sliding across the mats. Something was off when he threw his cross punches. They seemed slower, more rigid. Apparently, it was obvious to others, as well, since Rubin stepped on the mats and commented on it. "Right arm feeling stiff, isn't it?" He said to Lowen. "Yeah, just a bit." Lowen responded and tried to throw another right punch. He winced. "Looks like you might have exceeded the amount of pressure your body could withstand using Strong Heartz." He made his way over to his nephew and held his arm. Using his hands he began rubbing Lowen's arm, feeling for anything strange under the skin. "You got some knots in here. Wouldn't be surprised if there's some scar tissue, too." He dug into Lowen's bicep and shoulder. Lowen pulled back. "When you used Heavy Knuckle, you tore some muscle tissue. Body's trying to mend itself. That's why you're sore." "I know. I just thought that it would've healed by now." Lowen said. "Well, your healing ability is dependent on your body's health. When you exert yourself too much, it puts a strain on the body. You've been coming in here every day, pushing yourself harder than any of the guys in here. But you need to learn how to dial it back sometimes. You used Ever Legend pretty good against Bull. Conserving the energy, regulating it so it didn't tear you apart. Up until that last punch. Something about the way you looked. Something about your eyes. You weren't looking at Bull. You were looking past him. Into the future. You let yourself go for a moment there. Letting more of Ever Legend loose and it fractured your arm. We need to get this under control if you want to stand a chance in the qualifiers. Can't have you breaking yourself apart." Lowen pulled himself away from his uncle and flexed his fingers again. He could feel them cracking under the skin again. "We only have a month. I need to get back to training if we're hoping to get a sponsor." "And you certainly can get back to training... tomorrow." Rubin added. "Right now you need to rest, relax. Do something else besides thinking about the GIFL. Give the mind and the body a break for a day." Rubin could see Lowen roll his eyes. "Besides, don't you have friends to hang out with?" "Its alright, Uncle. I'm fine. If I can't work on my strength then let's focus on my speed for today. How's the post room?" Rubin sighed at his nephew, shaking his head, and then led Lowen to the "Wooden Post Forest", a training room in Heartz Gym that focused on a trainee's speed and reflexes through a series of large wooden dummies. Rubin opened the door to a huge square room with the floor sectioned into numerous square pads. Lowen made his way to the center and stood there. Rubin walked to a panel to the left of the door and pulled it open, revealing a small keypad, several dials and buttons. He typed on the pad and turned one of the dials. Several of the pads around Lowen slid open and wooden dummies raised up from the under the floor. The dummies were tall and thick, carved from a deep red wood, with long rods attached to the main body that imitated a person's arms and legs. These rods are connected to rotating rings that spin and when struck will immediately spin to attack from the other direction. These motions are meant to simulate a target punching and kicking. At the center of the wooden dummy, where the "chest" and "head" would be, are two small pads with sensors underneath that keep track of points when struck. On top of each dummy was a large bulb with a red protective covering that would light up whenever a person struck one of the pads. "You're current record is 56 points in one minute. I'll set the time to the same and the difficulty to level 4. Get you warmed up." Rubin said and set the timer to one minute and rotated the dial to the appropriate level. "Crank it up higher. I want to see how many points I can get." Lowen requested. "Don't get ahead of yourself. We'll start off like we always do and raise the difficulty gradually." Rubin responded with and pressed the big green button at the base of the panel. The sounds of gears turning filled the room and the rings on the dummies began to spin slowly at first and gradually increased in speed. Lowen immediately launched at the closest one, using his forearm to block one of the rods and struck its chest with his fist. The top of its head lit, and gave off a DING. The blocked quickly spun the other way and Lowen blocked it, striking the head pad. Another DING. He then launched at another dummy and did the same. Blocked, punched, DING. Then to another. This same pattern went on until the timer buzzed, signifying the minute was up and when Lowen looked up at the large monitor above the control panel he saw 71 points. A new record for himself. Lowen couldn't help but shoot a look at his uncle that said "told you so". "See? I can handle it. I wasn't even using Fast Heartz." He smiled with pride, swinging his arms from side to side. Rubin relented and turned the dial up to level 6. The base of the dummies detached from the floor and rolled across the pads in a circular pattern around Lowen. This happened anytime the difficulty was raised above level 5. Instead of fighting stationary targets, Lowen would now be fighting against moving ones. The young fighter smiled and began tapping his left foot on the floor. "Ready?" Rubin asked, his finger hovering over the green button. Without waiting for a response, Rubin pressed the button and the dummies began converging on Lowen's location. Lowen jumped over the two directly in front of him and spun around to attack them from behind. He threw a punch at one of the dummies but the rings were moving much faster now and Lowen had to quickly adjust to dodge the attack. The other dummy began wheeling himself closer and Lowen threw a kick at its midsection to stop it. Its head lit up and DINGed. Its legs spun around and Lowen had to jump again to avoid it. While in midair Lowen drove his fist into the dummy's head, sending it backward into the oncoming dummies. He landed on his feet and thrusted another fist into an approaching dummy. Still keeping on eye on his targets, he shouted at his uncle. "Is that it?" He questioned, spinning on the heel of his boot and driving a kick to the side of target's head, sending backwards. Rubin, irritated by his nephew's cockiness, thought it would be best to teach Lowen a lesson and turned the dial to level 8. Immediately, the dummies moved a greater speeds, the rings spinning faster now. Lowen blocked one attack but was suddenly surprised when another dummy managed to strike him the back. Before he had a chance to retaliate, the other dummies were on him. He blocked the higher rings with his hands and forearms, raising his legs to block the lower ones with his shins. What he could dodge, he did, leaping back over, but with the dummies moving quicker they applied considerable pressure, narrowing his field of movements. He struck some, causing their heads to light up, but others would strike exposed areas in his defense. Even though they were training dummies, they struck hard and Lowen could feel the pain shoot through his ribs when one struck the side of his chest. Part 3. Step It Up Frustrated, Lowen activated Ever Legend and felt his Drive coursing through his legs. Using Fast Heartz, he weaved through the attacking dummies and struck them one by one. Sometimes he would be able to strike two at a time but throwing a punch and kick simultaneously. As each head lit up, points accumulated on the monitor. Lowen wasn't satisfied with his score. Need to go faster. He thought to himself. Need to push myself harder. Lowen's movement speed increased to the point that each step he took sounded like little pops, air rapidly expanding from the force Lowen was exerting through his legs. Rubin was yelling something at him but Lowen couldn't make it out. He was too focused on the targets in front of him. He figured it was something to do with slowing down. But Lowen couldn't do that. He couldn't slow down. He needed to move faster, be better than he was right now. The dummies circled around him and Lowen was on them like a wild animal, smashing his knees into the pads, hearing the wood splinter behind them. Rubin continued yelling something at him and Lowen could see his uncle about to press to red button that deactivated the dummies. Without thinking, Lowen appeared in front of his uncle and cranked the dial all the way to level 10, the highest difficulty it could go. Then he proceeded to smash the panel so his uncle couldn't turn it off. New dummies sprung from underneath the room and began converging. Before Rubin could stop Lowen from continuing, he disappeared back into the middle of the dummies. They moved at blurring speeds, striking Lowen with a flurry of attacks. The young fighter managed to block most of them but they were striking with greater force and he could feel a dull ache build on his arms and legs. Bruises forming all along his limbs as he blocked. He stepped forward and he felt one of his legs give out. He was reaching his limit in using Fast Heartz. This only fueled Lowen's aggravation with his inability to use Ever Legend. He didn't want to stop. He couldn't stop. He was on full autopilot, his body willing itself to move without thinking. Just as he was about to attack a nearby dummy, he was struck hard across the back of the head and fell on his face. Anger swelled inside him and he shot a fierce look at the dummy. Everything flashed white and without thinking he launched back at it and went completely through it. The body splintered than exploded. Lowen landed at the far end of the room, turned around and ran through another one. The ground beneath him imploding in the process. Rubin continued yelling and was about to step on the mats but Lowen moving sent waves of force that pushed even someone of Rubin's size back. The wind whipped through the air and he raised a big burly arm to shield his eyes. He could barely make out his nephew in Lowen's frenzied state. Lowen's eyes were wide, wild with emotion. He drove a forearm into the head of another, decapitating it in the process. He roared loudly and continued his assault against the others, tearing through their bodies with ease. Faster, go faster. Lowen accelerated. He ignored the pain that shot up through his legs. He ignored the fire he felt in his lungs as he breathed. Don't stop. Lowen had completely given in to something inside him. His enhanced Drive pumping all sorts of power throughout his body. Each step he took, the mats beneath him were torn to pieces. Another dummy exploded from a devastating left punch, its mid section blown away. All the while Lowen roared. Then he saw something behind the next set of dummies and time seemed to stop. There he stood, bright like light, was Rob Heartz. Just like he did that day when he fought Tiger Monroe all those years ago. He looked at his son with sad eyes and spoke in a whisper, "Why do you fight, Lowen?" Suddenly the room exploded in a swirling surge of wind. The main doors blew out towards the rest of the gym and the back wall crumbled as something ran through it out into the building next door. Chapter Details Characters *Lowen Heartz *Rubin Heartz *Aeben Heartz *Diandra Oskar Gears Used *'Ever Legend' (エバー・レジェンド, Ebā Rejendo) Techniques Used *'Fast Heartz' (脚式迅速・ヒアトズ (ファースト・ヒアトズ), Fāsuto Hiatozu) Abilities Used * Drive